To non-Christians, it may seem odd that Christianity is symbolized by a brutal instrument of execution. A despised punishment for thieves and rebels has become an emblem of peace and spirituality for millions. Why have Christians made so much of the cross? Because it represents the work that Jesus Christ accomplished there. While Jesus was on the cross, God poured out on Him the wrath that we deserved for our sins (Isa. 53:4-5, 10; 1 Pet. 2:24). There Jesus secured our salvation and all the spiritual blessings we receive (Gal. 6:14; Eph. 2:14-16; Col. 1:19-20). There Jesus defeated the powers of darkness (Col. 2:13-15). The cross illustrates both God's greatest demonstration of justice–the staggering cost of sin and the full venting of His judgment–and also God's greatest demonstration of mercy–giving His Son to take the punishment in our place. With the cross we joyfully celebrate God's victory over sin and its penalty of death, but we also solemnly remember the pain Christ went through for our sakes.
One of the more striking differences between Catholics and Protestants is that many Catholic crosses have an image of Jesus hanging on them, while Protestant crosses are empty. (The cross with Christ on it is a crucifix.) Why the difference? Some Protestants criticize the use of the crucifix by stressing that Jesus rose from the dead, and is no longer on the cross. Yet Catholics historically believe in the resurrection as well. And Jesus rose from a tomb after being taken from the cross, so an empty tomb would be a more fitting symbol than an empty cross, if the resurrection were the meaning for the Protestant symbol. One might also expect that evangelical Protestants would love the crucifix, given their emphasis on Christ's sacrifice.
One minor reason that Protestants use an empty cross is that some early Protestant reformers were very cautious about images of Christ. Crosses are frequent in places of worship, but these reformers believed that using images of God in worship was a violation of the second commandment.
More important is that the cross and the crucifix represent two very different understandings of Christ's atonement for sin. Both Catholics and evangelical Protestants believe that Christ died to pay the penalty for sin. The difference is that Protestants believe that Christ's work was finished on the cross, and Catholics believe it continues. For Catholics, the appearance of Christ on the crucifix represents the fact that Christ's atoning work is still going on. When Catholics observe the Mass (what Protestants call the Lord's supper or the Eucharist), they believe they are re-sacrificing the body and blood of Christ, and that saving grace flows through the Mass for the forgiveness of sins. (More precisely, they believe the one true sacrifice of Christ continues through time, re-entering history each time the Mass is observed.) Protestants have always rejected this belief, and thousands of early Protestants were put to death by the Catholic church for refusing to administer or observe the Mass. For Protestants, the empty cross demonstrates that Christ's sacrificial work is completed, and there is no more sacrifice for sin.
The Protestant view finds its primary support in Hebrews. The Letter to the Hebrews is an argument for the superiority of Christianity over first-century Judaism. It urged Jewish Christians not to abandon Christianity by returning to animal sacrifices in the temple. The role of Jesus Christ as high priest is contrasted with the high priests of the Old Testament. Protestants do believe, as Hebrews 7:24-25 states, that Jesus has an eternal priesthood and "always lives to make intercession for" believers. But this intercession consists in pleading our case before the Father as an advocate (1 John 2:1), much as we see Jesus doing in chapter 17 of the Gospel of John. But whereas high priests offered animal sacrifices once every year, Jesus offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice that was infinitely sufficient, once for all time.
By creating a priesthood that administers over a weekly sacrifice of Christ, Catholicism is perpetuating a form of religion that is in a sense still locked into the Old Testament. The good news is that the work is done, and that forgiveness of sins comes through faith alone–not through sacraments or through the church–and is based on the one-time atoning death of Christ. If the crucifix were only a reminder of Christ's sacrificial work, most Protestants might have no objection to it. But His atoning work is not a continuing, mystical activity tied to a weekly ritual; it was a one-time historical event. The results of that work are eternal, and Christ's sacrifice was decreed from eternity, but the reality of that finished work is best represented by an empty cross.
Addendum: Judging from the e-mails I have received, there is great disagreement among lay-level Roman Catholics as to whether their church teaches that the sacrifice of Christ is an ongoing act that literally occurs in the Mass. For those who would like documentation, the Council of Trent ("On the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass") could not be more clear: "And since in this divine Sacrifice which is performed in the Mass, that same Christ is contained in a bloodless sacrifice who on the altar of the cross once offered himself with the shedding of his blood: the holy Synod teaches that this sacrifice is truly propitiatory.... For there is one and the same victim, now offering through the ministry of the priesthood, who then offered himself on the cross; the only difference is in the method of the offering."
For more modern sources, look at the Baltimore Catechism: "The Mass continues the Sacrifice of the Cross. Each time the Mass is offered, the Sacrifice of Christ is repeated. A new sacrifice is not offered, but by divine power, one and the same sacrifice is repeated." This is clarified and upheld in Ludwig Ott's textbook Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma: "According to the Thomastic view, in every Mass Christ also performs an actual immediate sacrificial activity which, however, must not be conceived as a totality of many successive acts but as one single uninterrupted sacrificial act of the Transfigured Christ." (p. 408) "As a propitiatory sacrifice, the Sacrifice of the Mass effects the remission of sins and the punishment for sins... The Eucharistic Sacrifice of propitiation can, as the Council of Trent expressly asserted, be offered, not merely for the living, but also for the poor souls in Purgatory." (p. 412-413)
Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theological 3.79.5-7 spells out the official view of the Mass as part of an ongoing sacrifice. Foxe's Book of Martyrs tells in detail how many early Protestants went to their deaths specifically for denying this very teaching. Far from a misrepresentation, the idea that Christ's sacrifice continues through the Mass is foundational to Catholic teaching.
For a concise statement of my beliefs about the person and work of Christ, see my Declaration of Faith.
